Thursday, March 14, 2013

Since we gained a new Pope on Wednesday, I thought the League of Themselves
showcase should feature the greatest Catholic cleric in Toobworld.....

BISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN

From Wikipedia:

Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen, May 8, 1895 – December 9, 1979)
was an American archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church known for his preaching
and especially his work on television and radio. His cause for canonization for
sainthood was officially opened in 2002. In June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI
officially recognized a decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints
stating that he lived a life of "heroic virtues" - a major step towards
beatification - so he is now referred to as "Venerable".

Ordained a
priest of the Diocese of Peoria in 1919, Sheen quickly became a renowned
theologian, earning the Cardinal Mercier Prize for International Philosophy in
1923. He went on to teach theology and philosophy as well as acting as a parish
priest before being appointed Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in
1951. He held this position until 1966 when he was made the Bishop of Rochester
from October 21, 1966 to October 6, 1969, when he resigned and was made the
Archbishop of the Titular See of Newport, Wales.

For 20 years he hosted
the night-time radio program "The Catholic Hour" (1930–1950) before moving to
television and presenting 'Life Is Worth Living' (1951–1957). Sheen's final
presenting role was on the syndicated 'The Fulton Sheen Program' (1961–1968)
with a format very similar to that of the earlier 'Life is Worth Living' show.
For this work, Sheen twice won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television
Personality, the only personality appearing on the DuMont Network ever to win a
major Emmy award.

Starting in 2009, his shows were being re-broadcast on the
EWTN and the Trinity Broadcasting Network's Church Channel cable networks. Due
to his contribution to televised preaching Sheen is often referred to as one of
the first televangelists.In 1951 he began a weekly television program on
the DuMont Television Network titled 'Life Is Worth Living'. Filmed at the
Adelphi Theatre in New York City, the program consisted of the unpaid Sheen
simply speaking in front of a live audience without a script or cue cards,
occasionally using a chalkboard.The show, scheduled in a graveyard slot
on Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m., was not expected to challenge the ratings giants
Milton Berle and Frank Sinatra, but did surprisingly well. Berle joked, "He uses
old material, too", and observed that "[i]f I'm going to be eased off the top by
anyone, it's better that I lose to the One for whom Bishop Sheen is speaking."
Sheen responded in jest that people should start calling him "Uncle Fultie".

Life and Time magazine ran feature stories on Bishop Sheen. The number of
stations carrying Life Is Worth Living jumped from three to fifteen in less than
two months. There was fan mail that flowed in at a rate of 8,500 letters per
week. There were four times as many requests for tickets than could be
fulfilled. Admiral, the sponsor, paid the production costs in return for a one
minute commercial at the opening of the show and another minute at the close. In
1952, Sheen won an Emmy Award for his efforts, accepting the acknowledgment by
saying, "I feel it is time I pay tribute to my four writers—Matthew, Mark, Luke
and John." Time called him "the first 'televangelist'", and the Archdiocese of
New York could not meet the demand for tickets.

One of his
best-remembered presentations came in February 1953, when he forcefully
denounced the Soviet regime of Joseph Stalin. Sheen gave a dramatic reading of
the burial scene from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, substituting the names of
Caesar, Cassius, Mark Antony, and Brutus with those of prominent Soviet leaders
Stalin, Lavrenty Beria, Georgy Malenkov, and Andrey Vyshinsky. He concluded by
saying, "Stalin must one day meet his judgment." The dictator suffered a stroke
a few days later and died within a week.

The show ran until 1957, drawing
as many as 30 million people on a weekly basis. In 1958, Sheen became national
director of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, serving for eight
years before being appointed Bishop of Rochester, New York, on October 26, 1966.
He also hosted a nationally-syndicated series, 'The Fulton Sheen Program', from
1961 to 1968 (first in black and white and then in color). The format of this
series was essentially the same as 'Life Is Worth Living'.

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Just An Old Cowhand On The TiVo Grande

As the Trickster once said, "Reality is boring, that's why I change it whenever I can."
I'm just "The Man Who Viewed Too Much", and "Inner Toob" is a blog exploring and celebrating the 'reality' of an alternate universe in which everything that ever happened on TV actually takes place.
Most of my theories about the TV Universe come from thinking inside the box and thus can't be proven. But I've never been one to shy away from a tall tale.....
Remember: "The more you watch, the more you've seen!"